A true data professional is often described as someone who can balance technical competency with business know-how and the softer skills or being able to listen and communicate effectively. It’s a rare requirement, but one the UK-based Data School is striving to instil in its graduates, including the first cohort who were recently welcomed into Data School Australia.

Data-driven intelligence is key to the next-generation organisation, according to Sephora Asia’s head of business intelligence. But in order to get there, employees not only need to have access to data; they also need to be able to interrogate it effectively.

Driven by enormous change in the research industry, one of Australia’s leading data analytical and data science businesses, TEG Rewards, has rebranded as TEG Insights this week.

Specialist independent wholesaler, Alvin Electronics, is using the power of analytics and machine learning to assist in its customer retention efforts, a move that helps level the playing field for this small business provider.

​If there’s one attribute Martyn Etherington is counting on to realise his ambitious brand transformation plans at Teradata, it’s bravery.

Good Shepherd is using the power of data analytics to help Australian consumers alleviate themselves from poverty.

Denmark-based Danske Bank Group is using a ‘one-tribe’ approach to push its data analytics strategy in order to improve operations and enhance customer experiences.

National Australia Bank is working to deliver personalisation in the moment, rather than after the fact, in order to create great customer experiences, its general manager of consumer marketing and customer strategy says.

One of the first lessons Shane Atchison learnt joining Domo as CMO eight months ago was marketing leaders don’t talk about agencies very often.

So how can you better action customer intelligence? What are some of the key steps to consider when you’re building out your game plan?

There’s a joke in the English town of Norwich that everyone either works in a church, in a pub, or in the insurance industry. Luckily for the customers of IAG, Julie Batch’s family worked in insurance, and instilled in her a set of values she has carried through to her current role as chief customer officer.

​Citi’s global head of customer experience, Tanya Smith, has an easy way to tell whether something meets the great experience test or not: You feel better after interacting.

US-based Nike says its acquisition of data analytics firm, Zodiac, is aimed at bolstering digital capabilities and accelerating its Consumer Direct Offense strategy to serve consumers faster and more personally at scale.

Applying machine learning to the Virgin Velocity Frequent Flyers program has already seen communication effectiveness increase by 10 per cent and given teams the ability to apply advanced analytics at 10 times the pace, its data analytics chief says.

Once upon a time, meeting a partner online was not seen as conducive to a happily ever after. In fact, it was seen as a forbidden forest. However, in the modern age of time poor, stressed-out professionals, meeting someone online is not only seen as essential, it can also be considered to be the more scientific way to go about the happy ending.

Higher analytics maturity correlates with higher financial performance, company performance and brand reputation according to a fresh industry report.

Two of Australia’s marketing industry associations have stressed the need for organisations to put consumer trust front and centre and build more stringent and adaptable data governance practices as scrutiny continues around how 50 million Facebook profiles ended up in the hands of Cambridge Analytica.

News that more than 50 million Facebook user profiles were leaked to controversial political data analytics provider, Cambridge Analytica, should serve as a hefty warning to marketers on the importance of transparency with consumers about how their information is used, and more stringent governance practices around access, usage and sharing.

While many contact centres encourage agents to resolve calls quickly, that’s not really appropriate when your service exists in part to prevent people taking their own lives.

Two years ago, the data and analytics team was seen as a backwater cost centre within ANZ, a silo to be trimmed when needed that was offering little observable value to anyone. On top of this, the employee NPS score with the team was measured at minus 48, a dire position for any business that relies on its people to deliver customer experience.

​ANZ Bank has become the latest strategic investor into data sharing market place, Data Republic, under a new partnership aimed at lifting the banking institution’s data insights game.